


Next step

by lerums



Series: Steve, Tony and their heir [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas celebration, Did I say this was fluffy?, Doctors, Father Steve Rogers, Gen, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Institutions, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker has ADHD, Peter gets his diagnosis, Precious Peter Parker, They though they were getting a peaceful christmas, father Tony Stark, think again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 01:42:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17695226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lerums/pseuds/lerums
Summary: "It’s going to be a rough day, I won't lie to you. I understood from your husband that you’ve had a couple of those already, but you can relax now that Peter is getting the help he needs.”Tony nodded slowly, psyched himself up, got up and got out.----The one where Peter spends christmas break in a psychiatric emergency room.





	1. When christmas comes to town

Peter kept his eyes shut firmly even though he was awake. He could hear his dads across the hallway, both bedroom doors were open. ”But Steve it’s nine already, we needed to get started on breakfast for everyone like an hour ago, we haven’t done anything yet and we’re supposed to open a few presents with him first! We overslept on christmas day and now our son has to pay for that, he’s not even awake yet,” Tony complained. He used his annoyed-but-trying-to-be-quiet-voice. Everyone knew Peter would hear anyway but it was a nice sentiment. 

 

”Right. You’re absolutely right. We need a strategy. Okay, you go wake him up. I’m ready now, So while he gets ready I’m gonna make hot chocolate for present opening, and prep the eggs so all we’ll have to do is scramble them. We’ll do the bacon in the oven. Everything is basically ready, we just need to lay it out on serving plates. I’ll do what I can to start that before you two get in there, but first we need to set the table. We have a plan for everything babe, we just need to execute said plan quicker than usual. No biggie. What’s a hosting family christmas brunch without some added stress, right?” Steve strategized. It wasn’t long after that Peter heard papa’s footsteps disappearing down the hall, and right after his doors opened with a creak. 

 

”Merry christmas dad,” Peter mumbled into his blanket. ”tired,”

 

”You’re awake. Course you are, punk. Well, merry christmas to you too.” He sat down on Peters bed, dragging a hand through his son’s hair. When he wasn’t up at 6am, Peter was hard getting up. It required softness and just as much patience as Tony was capable of. 

 

For Peter it was hard to go to sleep because his mind was so loud when everything got quiet. When he didn’t jolt awake because of thoughts starting to scream again, his body just didn’t want to let go of the quietness. It had always been like that. His parents knew and they’d developed routines for when the nights became unbearable and routines for waking up, so it wasn’t a huge problem for Peter. He could function just fine with it, and got enough sleep almost every night.

 

”We’re going to have to move soon you know. Papa’s gonna pop a vessel if we can’t open our stockings and first few presents before people get here. It’s quarter past nine now, and they get here at eleven,” Tony explained softly, rubbing Peters back as he peeled blankets off the body. Peter grabbed onto his pillow as if that was going to anchor him to the bed. Laughing quietly, Tony shifted, moving Peters entire torso to lie in his lap. It wasn’t a good morning for waking up, Peter could feel that. ”Dad, ’s not gonna work today. Sorry.” Peter explained. It wasn’t like he agreed with his brain and body, he wanted to run downstairs to his papa right then and there but nothing would work. 

 

”Do you want me to get papa? You could doze on the couch while we prepare brunch?” his dad asked, and that seemed like a good idea to Peter. He didn’t like to slow down others. ”Yeah” he whispered.

 

-

 

”You need a ride, son?” Steve asked, now being the one seated on the bed by Peter. They had changed spots which was actually good, because Tony was in charge of table settings and was also the best at making pretty serving plates. They were having a buffet style brunch this year, and everyone was coming. Even James Rhodes had dragged his mother to the city, so she could see he pseudo grandson. 

 

”Yeah. Probably change first?” ”Well, we could just bring your clothes downstairs and you can change in the bathroom later. Come on, climb on” 

 

Peter was eventually situated on Papa’s back, and after grabbing Peter’s clothes and products they were on their way. Before he entered the kitchen, Steve dropped Peter off at the couch like promised. It didn’t take long for Peters mind to start working from there. He was thinking about the presents and what could be in them and where they had gotten that white wrapping paper cause it was kinda shimmery and would have to me some multi layer tecnology with a top transparent layer that didn’t ruin the reflection and- oh god. There it was. 

 

Peter’s mind was rambling again, he was definitely awake now. That meant presents, so peter grabbed his stuff and practically ran to the closest bathroom to get ready. 

 

-

 

They were all in the same semi formal attires. Soft shirts with some kind of christmas themed print on and slacks. Steve and Tony had always been fans of dressing appropriately and this was outfits they were comfortable in. They didn’t have anything against soft pajamas, but that was usually limited to nights in with just the three of them. An occasional lazy morning would happen, but Steve had affected both others to ”seize the day” and all that. That meant feeling the very best when clothes went on before breakfast. 

 

”I’m ready! I think santa’s been here, the stockings are really full this year,” Peter exclaimed when he entered the kitchen, grabbing a mug of hot chocolate. He had stopped believing in santa earlier than the usual kid many years ago. But he used the childish tone he knew would get his fathers attention and make them join him in the living room for a while.

 

It was the same routine every year. They would have hot chocolate before anything else and look through their stockings and open the presents from each other before everyone else entered. Then brunch would last for something like two hours, a couple of movies would be on the agenda before returning to the dining room for games.

 

The dining room in the penthouse was possibly the most cherished room of all. It had a small bar in one corner, always stacked with both soft and hard beverages. There was the glass cabinet where Steve and Tony loved displaying their good china, and at christmas it housed their christmas china and some decorations. They always decorated the dining room with tinsel on the top of the walls, going around the entire room. It was spacious around the table which could house their entire family when they expanded it. There was also the sideboard against the entirety of one of the walls, right now displaying christmas decor. Inside were all the board games they had collected throughout the years. The sliding glass doors into the room was in a diagonal corner, so every wall had something on it. One of them had several family pictures, memories from holidays and everyday life they wanted to display. Another had a huge painting that steve had made when peter was little. It was calm and not very extravagant, but made with colours matching the rest of the room, setting the vibe to be homey and modern all at once. One could enter the dining room from the small hallway between the living room and kitchen, also containing a small guest bathroom.

 

This year went exactly the same Peter opened his presents and was surprised when his main present from his fathers was a car. Their excuse was that they didn’t want him learning in their other nice cars, so this would be for learning purposes only. It was a modern black volkswagen, a big and safe car. They had personalized it by coating the chrome details, making them matte black instead. Peter loved it. He was promised access to the other cars when he eventually got his driver’s license in a couple of years. Peter had gotten his dads matching christmas ties and an assortment of little things and trinkets they enjoyed. Everyone was delighted. In the end, Tony cleared his throat and took out two envelopes, giving them to Peter av Steve. They opened them to find fake tickets to the Stark industries airplane, taking them to the maldives right after new years. Peter had a week off after new years, and tony had made arrangements for Steve and himself to take those days off too.

 

Then everyone came. It was Sam and Bucky, Rhodey and his mother. Wanda, Natasha, Vision and Bruce walked in after, having been to some coffee place on their way. Scott and Clint were with their respective families. Pepper and Happy came last as their son Harley had needed a nap right about then. He was placed in the nearest guest bedroom before they ate. The day progressed as always, the movies of the year were Elf and the polar express. They were Peter’s favourites. He was so into the movies, it was a joy for Steve and Tony to observe him finally being so focused on something. 

 

When games were set out and Peter’s opinion was voted down, things changed a bit. He was suddenly acting really uninterested, constantly needing to be reminded of his turn. It wasn’t unusual for Peter to lose focus on things he wasn’t interested in, it was a near daily occurrence with homework. He had always been like this, ever since they tried making him listen to those little bedtime books that he wasn’t really interested in. 

 

And Steve and Tony knew what this most likely was. Peter’s constant trouble with sleep, him basically being unable to sticking to time, the hyperfocus or no focus at all, they were all classic symptoms of ADHD. He had the typical impulsivity and energy levels throughout the day too, which was why they made sure he had ways to direct that energy into good things. 

 

He hadn’t ever been diagnosed with anything so they weren’t sure, but they had read about the disease when Peter was eight. It was at a day party which was basically business, but there were always a couple of kids running around at those gatherings. Peter had been nagging at his dads when they tried having a conversation with a professor Tony had known at university. They had handled him they way they learned to, giving him a clear and firm message about how he was acting inappropriately. Peter had been a bit shameful but accepted it, running to his uncle bruce to tell him instead. Throughout the whole the thing he had not stopped tapping his feet to the floor, almost running in place. The professor who taught developmental psychology had smiled as they had apologized on Peter’s behalf, and told them they were handling his son’s diagnosis very well. When they hadn’t understood he told them that this was a very good way to handle children with ADHD. He couldn’t be sure after only the brief meeting, but had advised them to read into it.

 

Six years later, they didn’t think much of Peters possible diagnosis because they had a way of dealing and Peter was a well functioning teenager. He had friends, did well in school and attended loads of social gatherings without much trouble. When he was twelve, they had mentioned this to him, and also explained why they hadn’t sent him to specialists and gotten him tested. A diagnosis wouldn’t change much in Peters case, since the first step was to deal with the problems the way his fathers did. The only reason they told him was so he could be more aware of coping mechanisms himself as he became more independent. 

 

And yes, they knew that there were drugs that could help with calming his mind. But these weren’t recommended when not absolutely necessary, so they had decided to deal with it themselves. The past couple of months, though, Peters ability to focus had decreased, and he couldn’t for the life of him keep up with set times. They suspected the week-long detention right before the holidays was because he was so caught up with everything else on his way to school, and he had been struggling more with going to sleep the last couple of weeks than usual. 

 

There was a possibility that added stress would increase his troubles, but as Peter was still on his last year of middle school. He wasn’t really being pushed that hard. Nothing major had changed for him at home, either. Which was why later that night, they talked quietly in the kitchen like they so often did. 

 

”Should we contact his doctor, see what she thinks?” Steve asked. ”Maybe we should talk to Peter about it first. He’s old enough to explain his feelings now, he might have some thoughts about it himself” Tony suggested. Christmas day had been good overall. They made home made pizzas like they always did in the evening, and everyone had eventually gone home. Peter had gone to bed, but it was doubtful that he was asleep yet. Deciding to call it a night, the men went to Peter’s room to check up on him. 

 

They had thought right about the boy not sleeping yet, he had already messed up his entire bed with tossing and turning. ”Hey Petey, hard time sleeping tonight?” Tony asked, already climbing onto the bed on one side of Peter. Steve followed on the other. The routine was in their fingertips. Before Peter could answer his dad, Steve had flipped him over and lifted his torso so Tony could fix the pillows. While being laid back down, Peter told them he’d been trying for two hours already and wasn’t feeling remotely tired. Tony thought about what they discussed in the kitchen, but decided that the kid had enough on his mind for that night. They would deal with the long run in the morning, right now the goal was for Peter to sleep.

 

Steve wrapped him up tight, grounding Peters body. The touch was so tight it overwhelmed him for a minute before his brain shifted the focus to his papa and this moment only. His fingers were still tapping and he was rapidly looking around the room, but this would die down in a while. As soon as Peter had calmed down and managed to focus on his dads face, Tony started talking. He would keep the subjects light and superficial, also including nothing that could make Peters mind drift to science or some other big subject. He usually talked about the food they’d eaten that day, if anything had happened in the Stark Industries offices lately, their plans for the next day, and so on. After a while Peter closed his eyes and let himself relax. That was Steves que to lighten his grip a tiny bit, an keep doing that until he had completely let go. Tony would lower his volume at the same time, quieting everything that was going on in Peters mind. Eventually Peter would be asleep, and Steve and Tony could exit the room quietly.

 

”Yeah, we need to do something. We’ve done that thing way too many times lately and as adorable as he his, it’s gotta be frustrating for him.” Tony said as soon as they were in their bathroom.


	2. Acceptance, Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything escalates big time. It's not hard to spot anymore.

When Peter woke up again, it was 5:30. As opposed to the morning before, this was his usual routine lately. He kinda liked waking up before everyone else, it gave him time to do whatever he wanted to. His mind was racing, and all he could think about was observing how his own skin would react to sunlight. As they did new stuff, Tony, Peter and his uncle Bruce had made it a habit to examine how he his body would react to different exposures.

 

The summer hadn’t been great in New York, nor in the Hamptons where the Stark-Rogers had spent most of their vacation like every year. Therefore, Peter hadn’t been exposed to enough sun for anyone to think about this. With their upcoming trip to the maldives, Peter was focused on preparing himself so he didn’t suddenly have to spend his time inside. 

 

Making his way down to the spider lab, the lights turned on and Friday greeted him. ”I would advise you to wait for your father to wake up if you’re doing anything else than tinkering, Peter.” The robot said from the roof. It was just an advisement that Peter heard more times a week than anything else, he would do small experiments on his own all the time. His dad had said that it was fine, knowing what peter usually worked on, but they had agreed for Friday to keep saying it to remind Peter of being careful.

 

The spider lab was one of Peter’s favourite places, being completely dedicated to all things Peter. There was an area for chemistry experiments and one for physics, a computer for programming and a bench for the old toys he liked to improve. There was also a bio lab in one part of the room, dedicated to doing what Peter was doing at the moment, testing Peters immunology. The walls were light but every wall was starting to collect pictures, posters and magazine articles related to his life. The lab was between his father’s personal lab and Bruce’s lab, and both men had as much access to it than Peter did. There were times that Tony was there when nobody else was, and Bruce too. They regularly worked on developing Peters chance of not getting hurt while out doing what he loved. Having all their works in one place made for a great working environment.

 

Peter had tried getting another desk in the lab for homework because he loved the vibe down there, but steve had set down his foot and decided homework was to be done in the penthouse. That’s the thing, in this lab Peter would focus on what he wanted to and never anything else. It was heaven.

 

”-eter! Hey!” Peters head snapped up, he was so in the zone he hadn’t realized papa had come down. ”There you are. What are you doing up already, it’s not even nine?”

 

”I was just thinking about some stuff, had to come test it. See, if we’re going to the the Maldives I need to figure out how my body’s gonna react to the exposure to sunlight, so we don’t- don’t get any of the surprises when we get there. So anyways I was just testing the instant reaction, see right here on my arm, in the first f-field right above my wrist it’s completely no- normal? That’s really cool cause just a minute ago tha-a-at was blistering from being burned so that’s good to know, because turns out I burn even easier than before, as soon as I’m exposed it stings but that’s fine cause everything heals like right away! I’ve only done like, like fifty different exposures yet so nothing’s set in stone just yet- ” his arm was roughly lifted forward and his father was inspecting it. 

 

”Peter Benjamin Stark-Rogers. Are you standing here, telling me that you woke up, before sunrise I’m assuming, on boxing day to do harmful experiments on your own body – on your own?”

 

Peter didn’t really comprehend exactly what hid papa was saying, but it was clear he didn’t understand what he was on the verge of figuring out. ”But listen pop-op-ops, that means I-I can stay out as long as I like in the sun with- without worrying about sunscreen and it’ll only sting a t- tiny bit but it won’t matter cause I have a high pain tolerance and also it’s gonna- it’s gonna- it’s gonna go away like right away! Isn’t that so great?” Suddenly he snapped out of the excitement and noticed he was in the kitchen. 

 

His dad was staring at him with worry in his eyes, the frown so familiar they should probably trademark it. He knew what was coming now. He waited for the sigh that was always followed by an ”it’s fine, Pete” before his father started talking to him about something entirely not important while Peters mind was racing somewhere between science, vacations and stuff he read on twitter. 

 

Weirdly, it took longer than usual for everything to start. So Peter looked around the room and saw papa on his side, before letting his mind wander to how their vacation would be, and he hadn’t really checked out the Maldives before so he wondered what time zone they would be in, hoping it wouldn’t cause too much jet lag because that would ruin his sleep even more and he really should be sleeping better and it was probably because of the stress he was experiencing with what he wanted to tell his family and maybe he should meet up with Sam again or maybe uncle Jim cause he would also be understanding and-

 

”eeeter. Bud. Buddy. Peter!” His dad’s face was suddenly in front of him again.

 

”What?”

 

”We’re going to have to talk about this sooner or later, Pete. Your thoughts spiral a lot these days. Have you noticed that too?”

 

Oh god, not this again. He didn’t have freaking ADHD and those dumbasses would never get that through their thick skulls. A few could-be-symptoms here and there, which by the way could just as well be personality traits, and he was suddenly a nutjob. They didn’t talk about it much so he had decided a long time ago to just ignore them when they did, but this was so annoying! 

 

Peter tensed up, he could feel it himself. Here they were, with all the time in the world. They could spend their holiday time however they wanted, and now he was being forced to 1. sit still in the kitchen and 2. talk about something that didn’t even apply to him? Nuts. He rolled his eyes in the way he knew would piss his papa off, maybe they would send him off to ”think about his actions” or something. Anything was better than here, he needed to get out and _do something_. 

 

But nothing happened. They were looking at him, a bit curiously, obviously waiting for an answer. But what was the question again? Oh! They were in the kitchen it was still morning, everyone still in pajamas. Duh. ”Pancakes, please”

 

His dad let his head fall down into his hands and papa stroked his back, making big circles. 

 

-

 

It was frustrating when Peter was so far gone. He was so impulsive, going at everything he could think of with full force. Steve let out a small sigh and looked at his husband. The man was just as frustrated, but more so visibly. They shared a look, silently deciding that talking seriously to Peter right now was a lost cause. 

 

”Hey Pete? Peter? Hi. Wanna watch a movie while we eat? We can have a slow morning if you want, maybe squeeze in two movies if you’d like.” Tony suggested when he got his son’s attention. 

 

”Sure, I’ll go pick them out!” He said, immediately going into the living room. There was no doubt Peter would already be ten minutes into the movie when they got in there.

 

”Wow. I haven’t seen him like that since this summer, remember the wind project with Rhodey?” 

 

”Yeah,” Steve answered. ”I know what you mean, but something tells me that this is only gonna escalate if we don’t do something. Doctor’s office is opening up again tomorrow, you think we can survive until then?”

 

”We survived an alien attack on New York, honey. Although this might become the same workload, this is Peter. We love hanging out with him, hyperactivity disorder or not. We might need to sleep in shifts, Friday says he woke up after just three hours of sleep but something tells me he’s not gonna flick the switch before his body does it for him.

 

And so, the husbands started breakfast. Peter got the Pancakes he wished for, and they watched the first harry potter movies. When Peter didn’t stop after two, they agreed that he could just as well see them all. If it kept him still, it shortened the time of literally running along with the boy.

 

-

 

Steve had slept for a while in the evening, and now it was Tony’s turn to get some sleep. It would have been fine if they could be sure that Peter was working out, or watching movies, or doing some safe activity. But they feared what Steve had woken up to that morning, Peter literally burning his own skin on purpose for the sake of figuring something out. Again and again and again. And they didn’t think it was because he felt the need to hurt himself, he was just that reckless when in that mindset.

 

”We’re gonna need to cancel coming to dinner with Bucky and Sam tomorrow. There’s no way I’m letting Rhodey handle this on his own, sweetie.” Tony said, leaning into his husbands chest for a minute. 

 

Some days he still couldn’t believe his own ability to get tired at night and his body’s very regular need for sleep. He knew what it was, though. Everything had changed when he and Steve had moved in together fourteen years ago. He had become much more stable as a person, and five months in, when Peter had arrived to their lives, he had almost been in a normal routine with therapy, sleep, food, physical activity. And Peter was the last straw for Tony. If he wasn’t going to do this for himself, then for his boys so he could be there for them. 

 

Now, Tony was dead tired because Peter had been rambling about Harry Potter for the past half hour, after the last movie ended. He had had to stop him from two different experiments in the spidey lab. Tony knew that if he didn’t leave the environment he was going to snap at Peter, which would do no one any good.

 

Steve slapped his husbands ass as he left Peter’s room. Feeling rested, he was ready to handle his son’s brain chaos for a while. Peter was luckily just reading at the moment, so things were calm.

 

The night before they had talked about maybe possibly getting help for their son because things were starting to escalate a bit. Steve realised that this escalation had been exponential, and his sons thought drive was even making him incompetent of caring for himself. Like now. While reading cross legged on his bed, the teenager was literally wriggling. The book was moving so much in his lap, Steve didn’t get how he could read anything.

 

”Peter?”

 

”Yeah?”

 

”Go to the bathroom, I’m not changing your sheets tonight.”

 

”Right.”

 

As he could hear Peter peeing, he situated himself on the bed. Maybe he could try grounding his boy, if only for a little while. Steve thought about how in a way, he was thankful Peter was so disorganized about time right now. He wasn’t able to notice his father’s sleeping in shifts to keep him safe, and that was lucky because he hated being watched over. Even babysitters for nights out he didn’t like, which was why their tuesday evening ”date night” was Peter’s ”hang out with Rhodey-day” and not Rhodey watching Peter. No actual difference, but Peter felt better about it. 

 

”Come here, son. Come sit with me, it’s just us.” Steve coaxed as Peter was on his way back to the bookshelf. Surprisinlgy, it didn’t take more than that for Peter to crawl into his papa’s arms. He was sitting in a sort of fetal position, sideways on his fathers lap. He leaned to the side so his shoulder fit into the space under Steve’s arm and rested his head on the shoulder. Steve suspected Peter was a bit more aware of the chaos going on in his head now. He only let himself be held like this if he knew he needed grounding.

 

”There’s so much chaos in there, papa”

 

His voice was suddenly small, he’d been quite loud and obnoxious the entire day. Something had shifted, and Steve wasn’t sure why. They should have gotten help earlier, if only a person who could observe Peter and help them pull the break on everything when things were going south.

 

Steve had prepared himself for a night of action, but saw now that he would get overwhelmed Pete for a long while. This was the point were Peter couldn’t follow his own thought process anymore, because everything was happening all at once for him. It made Peter scared of his own mind, and left him with a feeling of defeat and incompetence. It had only been this bad a few times before, but if that was anything to go after, Peter wouldn’t be sleeping tonight.

 

Imagine a kaleidoscope with endless patterns and colour. So big that you can only handle watching into it for a couple of seconds before you’re really amazed but also finished. That kind of kaleidoscope was what Peter was experiencing in his mind, only there was a kaleidoscope in every direction he turned and he couldn’t look away. So yeah, no sleep happened in Steve’s shift. Or with tony after that, or when steve came back the next time. 

 

-

 

It was 8 am, and Steve, Tony and Peter was at the doctor’s right as they opened the doors. 

 

Peter had agreed to come with at 6, and Tony and Steve had done everything for him. Laid out his clothes, told him which to put on, combed through the curls the way he liked it, dragged him to the kitchen, placing a leftover pancake in front of him and reminding him to chew every piece.

 

Tony was so, so worried. Things couldn’t get worse anymore, Peter was stuck being so incredibly uneasy. The boy was shaking. The times before, he had managed to fall asleep by this point, but it had been when he was a lot younger. Tony supposed he couldn’t really compare situations like that. 

 

He was rubbing tiny circles in peters hairline on his neck while Steve was inside talking to Peter’s doctor before they brought him in. The waiting room was empty as the office usually didn’t take patients until nine. 

 

See, there were some situations where steve could let the shame of using his wealth to get stuff go. All of those situations included Peter needing something.

 

-

 

”Pete, Tony, you can come on in now” Steve said from the doorway, and Tony tugged on Peters hand to make him join. 

 

Steve was aware he’d been a long time explaining everything to the doctor, but he was so frustrated he could probably use a bit of therapy himself. First on the agenda would be Peter, though.

 

”Hello Peter, although I wish it was under better circumstances it’s nice to see you again,” doctor Green greeted. ”Why don’t you sit down here with your fathers and we’ll talk for a bit and then decide what we do next. Your papa says you’ve been experiencing a few things your whole life, like your focus and sleep trouble among others. Is it right that they’ve told you about what they think it is?”

 

”I’m not ill”

 

”Does that mean you don’t agree to what your fathers say you struggle with, or that you don’t agree with their conclusion?”

 

Peter sighed. Tony was rubbing his neck like he’d been doing in the waiting room, but Peter was tense and shaking slightly. His eyes shifted between being closed and focused on something on the floor. ”It’s just personality traits, it’s not… Look I can’t explain right now, everything is all at once.”

 

Dr. Green glanced over at Steve, who was confused. He had just told her that Peter never spoke about it himself and ignored them if they brought up anything ADHD related. But he accepted their helping him to cope all the time, so he surely had to realize they had a point?

 

”Look, I’m not sick. I’m not some crazy guy. I just need to relax and if you could just tell me how to do that when it’s chaos I’ll go home and deal with it.”

 

No one said anything. The doctor looked like she was considering something so Steve and Tony let the silence fill the room, everyone painfully aware of Peter’s shaky breaths. Like he was on the verge of tears. Doctor Green turned to Steve and Tony.

 

”Okay, Misters Stark-Rogers. I have a proposition for you that you may want to think about. As Peter’s general physician I’m no expert in this field, my job here will be to point you to the right place to handle this. Until Peter is eighteen I will be on any treatment team that forms, so I’ll be able to give them the story of Peter. The reason I’m mentioning a team is because I want to refer Peter to an emergency psychiatric facility for children up to eighteen years. This is what I’d define as an emergency situation as you’re not able to take him home in the state he is right now. He might only need to stay there for a short while, or they will advice you to let him stay longer.” 

 

Steve was wearing a frown, simply out of focus. He was listening to everything dr. Green was saying intently, she had known the family since the day after they got Peter and had helped them a lot throughout the years. Dr. Green was the woman who identified his son’s chicken pox, who told them what to do when he had croup, and who identified Peter’s first zit when they came in for his ”second chicken pox”. Both he and Tony trusted dr. Green deeply.

 

”Now, the closest one is just a couple of blocks from here, I imagine you’ve driven by it many times. I have a good working relationship with many of the doctors there, and if you wish they’ll keep me in the loop on what happens. Peter deserves to get some help for this now. You need to prepare for the fact that you might not have heard of every drug or treatment they try there, but trust me in that they know what they’re doing. Is this something you would like to do for Peter?”

 

Tony had been nodding along the way as the doctor spoke. ”Yes of course. Should we go right over there now?”

 

”Yes, I’ll make a call as you leave here about you coming in, so they’ll be expecting you. But first, you might want to send your husband and son out for a bit so I could have a couple of words with you?” Dr. Green asked, and they agreed. Steve held around Peters shoulders as they walked out of the office again. Peter didn’t protest at all to anything that was said.

 

”I see Peter isn’t exactly on the same page as the rest of us when it comes to insight into his own situation. It’s very normal, so don’t worry too much about that. Now when you get there, Peter is probably going to be scared even though there’s a relaxed environment. He will be assigned a room, and you’ll probably have to split up like you’ve done now if you don’t want him to be alone. From there, my best guess is they’ll give him some sedatives so he’ll calm down for now. After that, it’s really up to how Peter responds to that. They could end up sending him home with a quick referral to someone who excels at those kinds of patients. They might also end up admitting him somewhere for further investigation, if they deem him in need of 24-hour supervision. Now please, mr. Stark-Rogers. Please remember that in this situation, your job is not to treat him, or figure anything out. Your job is being dad, and only that. Comfort your son, he’s going to go through a lot and you are nothing more, nor nothing less than dad. It’s going to be a rough day and I understood from Steve that you’ve had a couple of those already, but you can relax now that Peter is getting the help he needs.”

Tony nodded slowly, psyched himself up, got up and got out.


	3. Settlement

Peter was finally home. After that hellish night and morning, he had been admitted to the Manhattan Emergency Psychiatric facility for children and youth, where he had met the most wonderful people. They’d started everything off by giving him a pill. An hour later everything was almost normal again. Peter loved them for that. 

 

He didn’t love them as much after that, when they told him and his fathers they’d keep him there for at least three whole days for observation.

 

Then, he hated them for taking both his dad and papa away at once, to talk.

 

Then, he loved them a little again when he got pancakes for breakfast, let him lie against papa and eat in bed. 

 

Dad had wandered in and out, a little frantic, constantly wanting things to happen. Peter was so relaxed he didn’t care if nothing happened, he was listening to papa’s heartbeat and dozing.

 

Then he didn’t like them for making him talk about his whole life to a doctor, who took notes and checked boxes while Peter was still speaking. He was a weirdo.

 

Then, he liked them better when a young doctor entered his room and Peter only felt a little sceptical.

 

Then, he hated everyone and was confused at the same time, including his fathers and the nice doctor for telling him he had something resembling ADHD and wanting him to try medication right away. Peter thought you were supposed to talk your problems away or something, and here the doctor was with a pill for him to try? Anyways, Peter hated them all.

 

And he hated them all all through that evening, and the entirety of the next day (while the nice doctor kept giving him different pills), and then it was the 29th of december. That was the day the chaos almost completely died down in Peters brain. That was the day Peter could focus on the nurses’ voice without issue, even though he wasn’t interested in what she said. It was nine am and his fathers weren’t allowed to come in until 10, but Peter had gone into the hallway and asked someone if he could use the phone. 

 

And then he called his dad and papa, who were there within 15 minutes. He hugged them. ”Thank you.”

 

And the morning after, the nice doctor had introduced Peter to an even nicer doctor who had his office next door from the tower before they had been on their way home.

 

-

 

So, Peter had officially gotten his shiny new diagnosis, ADHD. He still hated the word with compassion, but the newest doctor, dr. Pont, had just smiled and said it didn’t matter what it said on the paper. He could complain about it when he came to the office over new years.

 

”Pete, I was thinking about your medication. We’ll place it in the kitchen in the beginning, okay? You’re in here both at breakfast and dinner time, and that way we can help you remember it too” dad said, fishing up the pill bottle from the tote bag they’d gotten from the clinic.

 

Steve stroked his hair back. ”You want to do something? You never really got to enjoy christmas break, did you?”

 

”I’m exhausted. Can we invite the others over tomorrow maybe? Wait. Do they know?”

 

They did know, although Steve and Tony hadn’t told them. Everyone had noticed Peter being riled up on christmas day, and some of them had briefly heard from them during the terrible horrible boxing day. Trackers placing the three at the clinic for three days during a communication blackout left no mistake to be made.

 

Peter wasn’t sure how to talk about any of this yet, so they agreed to not officially tell anyone before he had talked to dr. Pont. 

 

”I’m not feeling anything special, can we order chinese and watch whatever you want to watch?” Peter said, looking down at the phone he’d just gotten back. When no answer came, he looked up. There were stunned expressions on them both. ”What?” ”Squirt, I don’t know if you realise this but you’re already so much better. Steve and I never pick a movie, you pick what you want and it’s either that or two hours of wriggling and talking,” dad said, a smile forming across his lips.

 

”Well that’s just horrible. They told us to continue on as normal, so I guess I have to pick then. Doctor’s orders.” Peter said, and turned around to walk into the living room. Before he could take his second step, Peter was smothered in a papa hug. ”We’re so glad you’re gonna feel better, baby boy. So, so glad.”

 

-

 

His uncle Bucky came in and lifted him on his back. Sam teased him about looking stupid in his new year’s sparkly bow tie. Bruce came in and patted him on his back, and said he’d tidied the spider lab for the new year to begin with a clean slate. Natasha had come in the elevator but had to leave immediately. Wanda gave him the hug he always got when she entered, only this time it lasted two seconds longer. Vision gave his normal little wave. His uncle Rhodey came last, and with a quick side hug Peter had survived greeting everyone normally.

 

Wanda and vision were going to a new year’s party and had to leave early, but stayed for turkey dinner before going off. 

 

After dinner, everyone gathered on the couch and watched tony’s homemade movies of peter when he was little, everyone present were in the old clips so there were lots of laughs. No one saw Tony wiping small tears from his eyes every now and then. Peter was squished between his fathers, and he couldn’t have asked for a better evening.

 

When the time closed in on midnight, Tony disappeared for a second before bringing out a tray of champagne glasses. ”Pete, you get sparkly apple juice. You’re welcome for getting to hold that fancy glass,” His dad said when Peter tried to take a glass like everybody else, and traded it for a slightly darker drink in the same kind of glass.

 

”To a new year filled with getting to know eachother even better if possible, loving each other more if possible and to reaching our goals. If possible. To clean slates and a new page on the kitchen calendar, happy new year” Sam toasted after the ball dropped. They had moved to the balcony outside the dining room which was in the right direction to watch times square. The winter night was illuminated by fireworks. Peter felt his eyes grow heavy, leaning into whomever was on his left.

 

-

 

”Rogers, I think your kid is falling asleep on me,” Bucky said, trying to sound grossed out but totally loving the fact that he was now a living pillow.

 

Steve looked over at his son, who was saying something about playing cards and the new year while his eyes were falling shut, over and over again. ”Right. Come on bud, in we go.” He wrapped an arm across Peters back and under his arm, keeping the boy up while allowing him to walk on his own. Tony was following a step behind, and assured the others they would be right back. Peter was shaking his head, trying to keep himself more awake. They had reached the living room. ”Don’ wanna go to bed, can we stay on the couch? Wanna stay up till the others leave” Peter mumbled, eyes dazed. He stopped in his tracks when Steve ignored him and tried to lead him to the bedroom. ”Please papa?”

 

And with that phrase, spoken with a tired, childish voice, Steve knew he had lost. ”Fine, Pete. We can relax in here, but I’m taking you to bed later when you fall asleep.”

 

”No you’re not, I’m going myself”

 

Tony was smiling fondly at his boys, shoulders shaking slightly trying to hold in his laughter. Steve shook his head to his husband, them both knowing how this would turn out. But it was new years eve, it was fine. Everything was fine as long as Peter was fine, Steve thought.

 

They sat down on the couch, Peter too tired to care he wasn’t sitting between his fathers. They had sat down so he was across their laps when he tried to sit in his normal spots. ”How was your year, Peter Benjamin?” Tony asked into his hair. 

 

Steve smiled. Peter Benjamin was what they reserved when they wanted a straight answer out of him. It was special to them because his name had only been Peter Parker when he was born. Steve had always dreamed about having his own little Benjamin, and Tony loved it too. They considered changing his first name, leaving the memory of a mother in the past. That’s why they had called him Peter Benjamin the first while, until they were sure of what was sticking. But it had felt wrong to change the name he had lived his first year with. He was their Peter, and he was perfect. Backstory and all. But to put their own spin on it, they added ”Benjamin Stark-Rogers” to the gap left by ”Parker”.

 

Steve had one arm around Tony’s shoulders and the other one kept Peter pressed against their bodies. He could feel both of their breathing rhythms, almost but not quite aligned. 

 

”Happy. Bit stressful. Friendly, educational. Quick to pass. How was yours, Steven Grant?”

 

Steve thought about it for a few seconds. It had been a stressful year, considering how much of a handful Peter had been. Luckily his day job at shield had been stable, almost boring, only one big avengers-thing in march and his relationship with Tony had been just as stable and boring. The good kind of boring, in both cases. The kind of boring when he and Tony communicated by looks when needed, the kind of boring where Steve could leave work for school meetings if necessary. ”My year was educational as well. Stable in some ways, thrilling in others. Overall, lovely. What about Anthony Edward?”

 

Tony looked down at Peter, and Steve knew they were thinking the same. Their eyes connected, and Steve concluded they were both hopeful for next year to be better for Peter. ”My year was exciting, I think I’ve done more good than bad in this one. Left me looking forward to the next one.”

 

Peter snuggled his face into the crook of his dad’s neck as he took hold of his papa’s hand that was around his waist. Steve let out a sigh, and leaned his head on top Tony’s, which was on his shoulder. ”Happy new year, dad and papa” ”Happy new year, kid.”

 

-

 

Rhodey stretched. They had stayed out on the balcony for the whole fireworks show, then gone back into the dining room and set up a board game. At first they thought Tony and Steve would be back shortly, but they never returned from putting Peter to bed. It was three am now, and it was time to call it a night. They were currently packing up the games and grabbing all the glasses and trash they could carry, so the hosts wouldn’t have to do everything in the morning. 

 

Once they reached the living room on their way out, everyone got their beliefs confirmed. The little family had fallen asleep on the couch. Tony leaning into Steve’s side and Steve leaning right back, they were turned towards each other. Peter was curled into a ball on their laps. All three were sleeping soundly. Bucky took out his phone to snap a picture, everyone knowing Peter would be so embarrassed if he knew they all saw him like that.

 

Rhodey thought about how small Peter looked. Even though he was fourteen years old, having only one semester left before high school would start. The kid’s development had been late in every department his whole life. He’d started school a year late because of his social, physical and mental state, but despite worries about still falling behind, the boy had proven himself to be very smart when given the right opportunity to learn. Even though he was a year older, Peter had been smaller than the other kids in school. It never stopped him from joining in on all the activities, with his hyperactivity he would always run around as much as everyone else. He was still small for his age, but lately Rhodey had noticed tiny cracks in his voice, here and there. Maybe the boy would reach a growth spurt this year, at least reaching the other kids? His biological father wasn’t very tall and neither was his birth mother, but he still had some growing to do. They couldn’t be 100% sure why Peter’s development was behind, but they assumed it was because of the drug use during pregnancy and the fact that the mother hadn’t been very responsible for the kid in his first year.

 

He had thought a lot about them the past few days. Rhodey’s sister had struggled with ADHD when she was younger, and he remembered how she was like before and after starting drugs for it. He knew where the kid had been the past few days, and had seen Tony slip him a pill before dinner. So Rhodey was hopeful Peter would experience a different year than the previous, everything had slowly gotten worse the past six months. He had suggested medication to Steve and Tony before, but he had agreed that they had a handle on it until lately. He had actually been planning to talk to them about it during christmas, but then boxing day had happened, and everything had taken a turn without his impact. 

 

Yeah, next year would be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this entire fic was posted in one evening! I just remembered that I'm having visitors this weekend, so I won't post anything before monday at least. Kudos and/or comments are greatly appreciated!


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